The Labor enquirer., 1887-05-21
THE LABOR PARTY.
A. Large and Liberty-Loving
Audience Assemblies
Thursday Night.
What the Real WOrkingmen Of Denver
Think Of T. V. POwderly and
the =" Enquirer"


Thursday night to attend the regular
weekly meeting of the Labor Party.
G. o. Shove presided. The minutes of
the previous meeting we're read and ap-
proved.
The three Cheesewright brothers gave a
new song in character, the "Pinkerton
Plug and the Dude Militiaman," which
evoked tumultuous applause and an en-
/ core.
Mr.. Mcdonald, of the Carpenters, then
proposed the following resolutions amid
great applause:
WHEREAS, Mr.. Terrence V. Powderly APP
pears to have set himself up as the general
boss of the labor movement and while in
Denver ignored the Labor Party and consorted
with number of known and notorious
"boodle" workingmen; and
WHEREAS, Because the LABOR ENQUIRER.
the official organ Of this Labor Party, did not
attach itself as a tail to Mr. Powderly's per-
sonal KITE and has therefore been denounced
by small gang of boodlers, backed up by the
capitalist press,
Resofved BY the Labor party Of Colorado,
that the LABOR ENQUIRER would voice our
sentiments entirely if it denounced and drove
out Of the labor movement any man who at
tempted to put obstacles in the way of our
emancipation from the chains of old party
slavery.
| Res0i5ed, That we believe T. V. Powderly
is that kind of man, and that we indorse and
approve the course of the ENQUIRER, and
trust it will keep up the fight until Mr.. Pow
derly is forced to declare himself with the
Union Labor Party or to resign his official po-
sition.
ReS0i7ed, Further, that we are tired Of
being made cats paws Of by the boodlers, and
are now thinking for ourselves.
| Ordered published in the ENQUIRER, the
Chicago Enquirer, the Standard and John
Spinton's Paper.
Mr. Haskell made few remarks upon
the resolutions in the course of which he
read the following:
The New York Herald publishes an in
terview with Powderly from which the fol-
lowing interesting utterances are taken:
You have seen the presidents letter on
the Guilford Miller case, Mr.. POwderly ?"
the Herald correspondent asked.
YES" was the answer, "and a generous,
bold, and patriotic letter it is. Mr.. Cleve-
land is evidently on deck in the matter of
land REFORM"
"You have recently talked with him on
the subject, l Think"
"Yes; when in Washington did myself
the honor to call at the white house, and
in conversation, which ranged over a
good many topics, the land frauds natur-
ally came up in their turn. Mr.. Cleveland
has evidently taken hold of them in a way
that means business. He has a mind of
his own, and, as everybody knows, a will
of his own. He has a tremendous. grip
when he tackles subject of this kind, and
now that he has made a beginning don't
believe he will let up until he has ripped
the whole thing open and protected the
rights of the people"
Are the Knights of Labor in sympathy
with the president in this matter, Mr.. Pow
derly?"
"Entireiy so. ne shall 10 a man support
any administration aohieh enters earnestly
nbon iand reform, and stand BY IL until tie
last ,g,tn is fred Why should we not? The
Lnights do not regard this as in any sense
political question. 1t is a matter of
patriotism, not of party. Whichever
party allows this evil to continne will en-
counter our opposition. ind 7ohieheVer
party devises and pushes tie remedy for ii can
safely CONT OF onr sympathy and cooperation.
That is the position of the
Knights, and that is what we believe Mr..
Cleveland is going to do. He has his
hands on the pillow, and will, we all hope,
keep the team moving until the furrow is
finished way up to the fence"
"Then you think Mr.. Cleveland's letter
protecting Guilford Miller in the posses
sion of his farm is only the beginning of
a big REFORM" the correspondent sug
gested.
''Only the beginning. He is not the
man to stop there, or if he does stop we
shall vote for candidate who will go
ahead with this great work"
1t seems to me, therefore, that MIR. Cleve-
lands letter is the most important public
document that has been issued for many a
good long year, and will be hailed with re-
joicings in every section of the country.
The Knights will all stand by
me in saying this much. at any rate,
namely. that the attitude of the various
candidates toward the land question in
1883 will be very important factor in the
campaign. y am sure that the
Knights will also back me up IN this fair
play to Americans means that not one
acre, not one rood, not one rod shall be
owned by an alien. We want to be gener-
ous. but until we have more land than we
want for our own use-and that will prob
ably never be the case-no foreigners need
apply. More than that. if foreigners, by
any legal hocus-pocus or by any collusion
with land spectators. have already ac-
ouired land. il should be reclaimed by the
government and held for American citi-
zens."
"well. Mr.. Powderly, what do you think
ought to be done in order TO make this
land reform compietef'
Il will tell you" he answered. There
are. in the first place, some things whic h
Mr.. Cleveland will probably do as our
chief magistrate; and there are, in the
second place, some things congress should
be urged to do, and at once"
"As for the president. Mr.. Powderly!"
THE president, take it, can stiffen up
the management of the interior depart
ment. That is very important. A good
many things have been done there in times
past. under other administrations, for
which there was no law. II is not necessary
IN fnd fault. but good many precedents